Hotel representatives in South Africa are less optimistic about their occupancy and financial performance in the second quarter of 2009 than they were twelve months ago, according to a survey done by Horwath HTL Hotel Performance Confidence Indicator, reports TravelHub.

A decline in occupancy is expected by 56 % of hoteliers, while 44 % expect a decrease in revenue.     However, 52 % indicated that they expected Average Room Rates to increase.  

Occupancy declines are most likely to affect two star hotels (71 %), then 4-star hotels (60 %), 3-star hotels (57 %) and 50 % of 5-star hotels, says the survey.    Smaller boutique hotels are far more confident about occupancy levels than are large 250 + room hotels, which have the lowest level of occupancy confidence.  

In the Western Cape the occupancy forecast is particularly bleak, given the added problem of seasonality, resulting in between 59 – 70 % of all hotels in the region expecting their occupancy to decrease.   Also, between 50 – 63 % of all hotels in the province expect decreases in revenue, particularly so at 4- and 5-star level. 

Overall, the lower star rated hotels appear to be more confident about raising their Average Room Rates compared to the 5-star hotels, who have the lowest expectation of all star grading categories in doing so.    Revenue declines are most likely to take place at 2-, 3- and 4-star hotels, with 40 % of 5-star hotels being confident that their revenue will not change from last year.